Running
by A.Eelif
Summary: This is a sequel so to speak to my other fic "Lonely Day", but it can stand alone as well. More details on the inside.


I do not own Bleach, the characters, or the settings. I do not own "Running" by _No Doubt _on their album "Rock Steady".

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Hiya, it's me again! This story is a reincarnation story. It just shows how Shunsui and Ukitake met after they died in my other story "Lonely Day". I had a review from that story by DarkFlameTailz saying that they would have loved to read an after-after life story of what happened to them…here it is! Thanks for the idea! Anyway, this is my story and you can read it and leave me a review of what you thought. As always don't be a jerk in your review and if I messed something up PM me and let me know!

This story is also a song fic based around the song "Running" by _No Doubt _on their album "Rock Steady".

Also, for those of you who may not know, Jushiro had black hair before his illness made it turn white…I didn't want ya to be confused.

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_Run_

_Running all the time…_

He'd been watching that little black haired boy for a few weeks from his perch in the tree. He had first laid eyes on him as the pale boy climbed the monkey bars at the local park and he'd been wanting to go play, but didn't quite know how to approach the new kid. The brown haired boy in the tree looked down at all the other children playing and knew the time for introducing himself was drawing near. The pale, black haired boy was running at full speed toward the water fountain and just as the boy in the tree knew it would happen, the black haired boy trips over an exposed tree root making him fall face first to the ground. The black haired boy burst into tears and a loud sob erupts from his throat.

The boy in the tree jumps down landing with a thump right in front of the fallen, sobbing boy. The pale boy's tear-filled green eyes travel up from the brown haired boy's pink shoes all the way up to the baseball cap on his head. The brown haired boy finally speaks as he holds out his hand, "You totally busted it! I'd laugh if you didn't look so upset."

The pale boy wipes the tears from his eyes as he grabs the hand offered to him and finds himself being hoisted from the ground, "I tripped and it isn't funny! You're mean!"

"I'm not mean, I didn't even laugh." He lets go of the black haired boy's hand and smiles, "If you'd been to this park as many times as I have then you would have known that tree root was there."

Tears continue to stream from the green eyes of the fallen boy, "I just wanted some water."

"I'll walk with you. I'm thirsty too." He reaches out and grabs the small hand belonging to the crying kid, "You must be new around here? I don't remember you from kindergarten."

The two boys walk hand in hand to the water fountain as they continue their conversation, "Well, my family just moved here at the beginning of the summer break, but my mommy and daddy work a lot so I come here to play and wait for them to come home."

They finally make it to the water fountain and the pale boy takes a long drink as the boy with the pink shoes talks some more, "My mom and dad work a lot too, but I'm here with my nanny."

Both boy's finish their drink and walk to sit on a park bench, "Thanks for helping me up. That really hurt when I skinned my knee."

With these words the pink shoed boy notices the bloody knee of his new friend for the first time and gasps, "Does it still hurt?"

The black haired boy shakes his head, "No, it just stings a little." To his surprise the brown haired boy pulls a tissue from his pocket, stand up from the park bench, kneels down in front of his new friend's knee, and wipes the blood away. He then places his lips on the scraped knee giving it a soft kiss. The pale boy's black eyebrows scrunch together confused, "Why'd you do that?"

The grey eyes of the kneeling boy shoot up to connect with the confused eyes of the injured boy, "I'm sorry!" His cheeks turn the same shade of pink as his shoes, "It's just that whenever I get hurt my mom always kisses it to make it better." He turns his gaze to the ground, "I guess I should have let your mom do it."

"It's okay." The brown haired boy looks up to see the happy smile on the black haired boy's face, "It was a nice thing to do and I'm sure my mommy won't mind…just this once." When the brown haired boy doesn't say anything, the other child continues, "What's your name anyway?"

_Running to the future…_

The kid with the pink shoes and baseball cap stands up and returns the smile, "Kyoraku…Shunsui Kyoraku, but I hate it when people call me by my last name. So, you can call me Shunsui."

The other boy's smile widens at finally learning his companion's name, "My name is Ukitake…Jushiro is my first name and I guess it's okay for you to call me that."

"Naw." Shunsui shakes his head, "It's too formal." His smile deepens at the confused look on Jushiro's face, "I'll just call you Ju."

Jushiro nods in agreement, "Okay…you're really nice. I hope we're in first grade together next year."

"Me too!" He grabs his new friend's hands in his and pulls him up from the park bench, "And, we can be best friends from now on!"

"Okay."

_With you right by my side…_

The two boys played together in the park everyday that summer and managed to be in the same first grade class as well. They actually ended up being in all their classes together until their eighth grade year when they turned thirteen. They had every class except their last period class together. Shunsui's last period teacher tended to be long winded and held the student's several minutes after the bell had sounded for dismissal. This left Jushiro standing outside of the school waiting on his best friend to be freed from the confines of class. These times of solitude usually gave the pale teenager a chance to be alone and think about things he was too distracted to think about when Shunsui was around, but today was different.

Today, the three biggest bullies in the eighth grade class approached him slinging insults. They usually did this all day to anyone they could get away with doing it to and today they had decided it was Jushiro's turn. They called him degrading names and insulted his mother…the usual childish taunts…all of which Jushiro just ignored and didn't give them the satisfaction of a comeback insult.

_Me_

_I'm the one you chose…_

He thought the stupid boy's would tire themselves out eventually and leave him alone, but he was mistaken as one of the three bullies knocked his books out of his hands and grabbed him up by his collar. The bully insulted him some more and threw him on the ground. The other two laughed as if it were the funniest thing in the world. The three of them circled him and began kicking him anywhere they could find an opening on the balled up boy's body.

Jushiro knew he could take the three bullies on all at once and win if he had a mind to. He and Shunsui had taken martial arts classes together for years, but the black haired teenager had his reasons why he chose not to fight back. He couldn't answer for Shunsui, but what the bullies were saying about him was true.

Amidst all the kicking and taunting, he heard his name being shouted and heard footsteps running his way. The next thing he saw was Shunsui beating the hell out of the three bullies and the said bullies running away.

_Out of all the people…_

Jushiro remains on the ground until Shunsui approaches him with an outstretched hand, "Are you okay, Ju?"

The beaten teen raises his green eyes to his best friend's hand, but he doesn't take it. Instead, he slaps Shunsui's hand away making the brown haired teen look down at him with confusion, "Why did you do that?"

"You're my friend and you looked like you needed help." He rubs his hand trying to ease the sting of it being slapped so hard.

The black haired teen finally stands up with a look of anger in his green eyes. "I am not a damsel in distress! I don't need you to come rescue me every time something happens! I could have dealt with them myself!"

"Then why didn't you?" He looks at his best friend's furious face and the books scattered on the ground still not understanding why he was being yelled at, "Why did you let them do that to you if you could deal with them?"

"Just forget it, Shunsui." He begins picking up his fallen text books trying to ignore the appalled look on his best friend's already somewhat hairy face. He shouldn't be mad at his friend. He was only trying to help after all, but he needed someone to be mad at.

"How can I just forget it?" He walks closer to his pale friend not really knowing what to do, "You're my friend and you're hurt…you even have a black eye." Shunsui grabs Jushiro's chin forcing the pale boy to look at him and places a kiss on the bruised skin around his swollen eye.

Jushiro quickly wiggles out of Shunsui's grasp and the expression on his face reflects even more anger than before, "Don't do that!"

"Why not? I always do that when you get hurt."

"And, you're always hugging me too!" He finally manages to gather all his books into his arms before continuing to yell at his bewildered best friend, "You need to stop!"

"But, you never minded before." His brown eyebrows come together in puzzlement, "I don't understand."

The black haired teenager lets out a loud sigh, "Those things are the reason why I got beat up!" His voice trembles with his next words, "They think we're gay!"

Shunsui's eyes widen at his friend's words as he struggles to think of something to say, "I-I didn't mean for it to…I'm sorry, Ju. I just do those things because we're friends. I didn't know anyone cared."

"It's obvious now that some people care what we do!" He shakes his head in frustration as he turns away from his friend wondering why on Earth he chose to wear that pink tie to school everyday. No wonder their classmates thought they were gay, "I'm going home."

"But, I thought we were going to the arcade?" Shunsui really didn't know how to deal with this situation. He and Jushiro had never fought before and his thirteen year old mind didn't know how to handle it much less how to make it better.

"Forgive me, if I don't feel like going to the arcade." The black haired teen begins walking away from his worried friend at a fast pace.

Shunsui runs after him trying to catch up, "Then I'll go home with you, Ju."

"No!" He turns back around to face the shocked expression on Shunsui's features, "Just leave me alone!"

A hurt expression replaces the shocked one at hearing Jushiro's words, "I thought I was your best friend?"

"You are my best friend and that's it! You're nothing more than that, but…" He swallows the lump in his throat as he fights back his tears, "But, I need to be alone right now."

A numb feeling washes over the teen with the pink tie as he remains standing where he is and watches his best friend walk away.

_You wanted me the most…_

Jushiro notices Shunsui's absence from school the next day. Late the night before, he'd realized that he'd overreacted and he owed his brown haired, pink tie wearing friend an apology. When the school day ends, Jushiro knows exactly where to find his friend and that place is the local park. When the pale teenager arrives he sees Shunsui sitting on the very same park bench where the two of them had first introduced themselves. Jushiro takes a deep breath as he makes his way to the park bench and sits down beside his depressed looking best friend, "You missed school today, Shun."

The brown haired teen doesn't look up at his friend as he speaks, "I guess I figured that'd make us look less gay and I only go to school to hang out with you, but since you were mad at me then I didn't see the point."

"I overreacted, didn't I?" He laces his fingers together in his lap from nervousness. He didn't really know how this apologizing was supposed to go considering he and Shunsui had never fought before.

Shunsui's grey eyes finally meet the green eyes of his companion, "No, you didn't. You had every right to be mad." He gives Jushiro an apologetic look, "I never thought that all those weird things I did just messing with you would be considered…gay. I'm sorry, Ju."

_I'm so sorry that I've fallen…_

Without warning, Jushiro wraps his pale arms around his larger friend in a tight hug, "You don't need to apologize. I enjoy being friends with you and that means I enjoy all the things that come with being your friend. I don't care what other people think." He releases his embrace and smiles at his grey eyed buddy, "Am I forgiven?"

Shunsui finally shows Jushiro his usual happy smile, "Duh, I can't stay mad at you." A curious look appears on Shunsui's fuzzy face, "But, I gotta ask, Ju…why didn't you beat the crap outta those guys? You've taken me out plenty of times when we spar in martial arts class."

"It doesn't matter…let's talk about something else."

Instead of pressuring Jushiro to answer, his black haired friend's suggestion of talking about something else triggers an important memory of something he'd wanted to share before their fight, "Good idea, Ju! I have the weirdest thing to tell you!"

"Okay, then spill it." Jushiro had never seen Shunsui this excited about anything.

"Just hear me out before you say don't believe me." His grey eyes shoot up as he concentrates trying to get the details right. Finally, his eyes meet Jushiro's again and he begins his tale, "I had this…well, I guess you could call it a dream, but anyway this 'dream' was about me and you, but we were grown ups and we were important people, but I'm not sure why we were important and you were sick only I don't know what was making you sick, but the weirdest thing was your hair."

The black haired teen gives his friend an interested look, "My hair? What was weird about it?"

Shunsui reaches out and runs his finger's through his best friend's black locks, "It was white, but it suited you." He smiles as he pictures his friend with the white hair from his 'dream', "I think we've known each other before…like in another life or something."

An expression of skepticism appears on Jushiro's face, "It was just a dream, Shun. You're taking it too seriously."

"But, it wasn't a dream…I mean it was, but it felt more like a memory. It was like a piece of my mind opened that I didn't have access to before." He lets out a heavy sigh and scratches his temple, "I can't explain it, but it felt so real as if I'd lived it before."

"I find that hard to believe, Shunsui. We're only thirteen and we met when we were six." He shakes his head in disbelief, "You have to stop experimenting with pot."

"That was one time and I wasn't smoking pot the night I 'dreamed' that." His cheeks suddenly heat up as he remembers some of the other details from the dream. He hoped Jushiro wouldn't notice his embarrassment, but unfortunately his pale friend is very observant.

_Help me up let's keep on running…_

"Why are you blushing?" He flashes his blushing friend a suspicious look, "You were smoking pot, weren't you?"

"No!" He looks away from Jushiro's accusing gaze, "I just thought of something else from my 'dream', but it's dumb and you don't believe me anyway."

How in the World could he ever tell his best friend that he'd seen them kissing and cuddling and…doing other stuff in his dream? He couldn't tell Jushiro that on a good day and he definitely couldn't tell him after the 'gay' fiasco of yesterday and he most certainly could never, EVER tell the black haired teen that he'd enjoyed the erotic images and hoped he'd dream about them again…frequently. No, he would just leave the story where he had left it.

"Shunsui…Shunsui!"

"Huh?" He finally turns his attention back to the present.

"I've been trying to get you out of Lala land for almost five minutes." He smiles at the dazed expression on Shunsui's face, "I was asking if you wanted to go to the arcade?"

He blinks the erotic images from his teenage mind and returns the smile, "Yeah, we can make up for yesterday."

_Don't let me fall out of love…_

The years continue with Shunsui dreaming and remembering details from another life, but never being successful in convincing his non-dreaming friend that it's real. In fact, the erotic aspect of the memories was becoming so frequent and increasingly graphic that by the time they were sixteen and Juniors in High School, it took all of the strength in Shunsui's body to keep his libido and erection under control when seeing his friend. He was ashamed to say that he sometimes had to excuse himself from class to take care of things in the restroom.

When this particular school day is over, Shunsui approaches Jushiro at his locker and waits for the black haired teen to gather all his books before speaking to him. Shunsui smiles when Jushiro closes his locker, "So, what do you want to do today?"

_Running, Running_

_As fast as we can…_

A frown appears on Jushiro's pale face, "I can't hang out today, Shunsui. I have to baby-sit my little brother and sister."

"Oh." He and Jushiro begin walking out of the school together since they walked home together every evening, "Then I'll help you."

He gives his brown haired friend a look of disbelief, "You want to help me baby-sit?"

"Why not? I'm not scared of kids."

"Okay." He lets out a low chuckle as they make their way to his house, "But, they don't act as cute as they look."

Shunsui smiles, "I think I can handle a couple of kids, Ju."

The two teenagers finally make it to the Ukitake residence and walk inside to find Jushiro's nine year old sister and seven year old brother sitting on the couch already surrounded by a huge mess even though the two youngsters only arrived five minutes before their brother. The black haired teen lets out an annoyed sigh, "The two of you had better have this mess cleaned up before mom and dad get home."

"Okay, Niisan!" The two children say in unison without looking up from the TV.

Jushiro looks away from his siblings and focuses his gaze on Shunsui, "Can we talk in my room?" He notices Shunsui glance at the children, "They'll be fine as long as I'm here somewhere."

Shunsui nods, "Yeah, sure, Ju…nothing's wrong, right?"

"Everything's fine, we just need to talk." He begins walking toward his bedroom with his close friend behind him.

_Do you think we'll make it?_

_(Do you think we'll make it?)_

They enter the very organized bedroom and Jushiro sits on the edge of the bed and Shunsui does the same sitting beside him. The green eyed teen is the first to speak, "Do you still have those…dreams? I only ask because you haven't mentioned them lately."

"Yeah, I have them almost every night. Why do you ask?"

Jushiro is quiet for a long time until he eventually takes in a deep breath and slowly lets it back out, "I think I had one of those dreams last night."

An excited expression appears on Shunsui's face at first, but it is soon replaced with a skeptical look, "If you're just doing this to make me feel better then don't. I'm not making it up and…"

Jushiro holds up a pale hand to silence his ranting friend, "I'm telling you the truth, Shunsui. It was just how you described it…it started out just like a dream, but it changed and that feeling you described, it really did feel like I was remembering something I'd forgotten. I remembered a life before this one."

"Go on, Ju." Shunsui's grey eyes widen with excitement, "What did you remember?"

_We're running…_

"When you said we were important you were right because we were Captains of some sort of society, but I'm not sure what society it was and my hair was white, but it was because I had this illness. I was sick a lot, but I was still strong enough to be a Captain." The black haired teen is so excited at finally knowing what his friend has known all this time that he forgets to breathe and stops to take a deep breath before continuing, "And, we were friends even then and you wore a pink kimono all the time just like you wear pink now!"

The biggest smile Shunsui has ever worn is now plastered to his face, "You do remember! I'm so glad! I was starting to think I was going crazy!"

Jushiro's happiness soon fades and he turns his face away from his excited friend, "There's something else, but I'm not sure if I should say."

"You can tell me anything, Ju…you know that, right?" He grabs Jushiro's hand making those green eyes look at him again.

Jushiro nods, "I know, but this isn't just anything. This is something that could quite possibly freak you out and you're my friend and I don't want that to change because we've been friends for a long time and…"

"Shhh, you talk too much." Shunsui lets go of his friend's hand and places both of his own hands on either side of Jushiro's face as he brings his lips gently to his friend's lips halting all words. The kiss is a soft, innocent first kiss that doesn't last long, but makes its point.

When Shunsui pulls his lips away, Jushiro stares at him for a long time trying to figure out what just happened and what he should do about it, "W-why did you do that?"

"I could tell your heart was hurting from the big decision of whether to tell me this or not and I couldn't kiss your heart so I figured your lips were the next best thing." He smiles at the shocked, but cute expression on Jushiro's face, "I already knew what you were gonna say. I know that in our past life we were lovers. I've been dreaming about that since I was thirteen and trust me…dreams that graphic are too much for a teenage boy to deal with."

_Keep holding my hand…_

The pale boy's mouth opens as if to say something, but then he closes it again and shakes his head trying to process everything that just happened, "You've known about that for this long and you didn't think it was important enough to tell me until now?"

"Well, you always seemed so upset because our classmates thought we were gay that I didn't know what to do." He lets out a soft sigh, "I wanted to tell you about it because I've always loved you, but I didn't know if you played for that team or not."

A frustrated sound escapes Jushiro's mouth, "I was upset because I thought the feelings I had for you were wrong! I didn't know that these feelings were okay. Just knowing we used to be lovers makes me feel…normal." He lets out a relieved sigh, "These memories help me understand why I've always felt this way about you."

Shunsui looks into the beautiful eyes of his best friend and still doesn't really know what to do with all this new information, "So, what do we do now?"

An evil smile spreads across Jushiro's face, "Shut-up and kiss me again."

The brown haired teen returns the naughty smile right before pressing his full lips firmly against Jushiro's waiting lips. The black haired teenager immediately opens his mouth to allow his best friend's tongue entrance. The pale teen let's out a groan as he feels Shunsui's tongue explore every inch of his mouth. When the very intimate kiss ends, Jushiro finds himself with his back against the bed and Shunsui on top of him, "You're so hot, Ju." The bearded teen grinds his hips down against Jushiro's pressing his forming erection against the one growing in his friend's pants making both teenagers groan.

Just when they're about to continue, the teens hear the front door open and a female voice calling Jushiro's name, "Oh, shit! That's my mom."

Shunsui immediately gets off of his friend and stands up trying to ignore his now fully erect cock, "I'm sorry, Ju. I just got carried away. I've wanted to do that and more for so long, but you shoulda stopped me."

Jushiro sits up, but remains on the bed, "It felt too good to stop."

"Oh, fuck…don't say things like that when I'm in a condition like this!" He gestures toward his crotch making his friend smile, "I'm gonna go." He grabs his binder and covers his front with it as he walks toward the door, "Maybe, we should keep this our secret. The kids at school don't need any real information to harass us with."

Jushiro nods in agreement, "Shunsui?" The brown haired teen turns his attention to his best friend, "I love you."

The bearded teenager smiles, "I love you more."

Shunsui leaves the bedroom and somehow manages to have a conversation with Jushiro's mom without her noticing his 'problem' and then leaves for his own home. Jushiro lies back on his bed and smiles. This was the first time in a very long time that he actually felt happy about being Jushiro Ukitake.

_It's so we don't get separated…_

By the time they were Seniors in High School, they considered themselves 'boyfriends' even if they were the only ones who knew it. The two of them had decided to have sex on Jushiro's seventeenth birthday and unlike their past life, in this life they lost their virginity to one another.

_Be _

_Be the one I need…_

They managed to keep their relationship secret from everyone except Shunsui's mom who awkwardly enough walked in on them in a very compromising position. The surprising thing was that she didn't get mad and actually kept it to herself.

The night before their graduation from High School, Jushiro found himself on Shunsui's bed and once again in a very compromising position only this time no one was watching. After they'd both found release, the two teens lay together naked and sweaty on the brown haired teenager's bed with Jushiro surrounded by Shunsui's loving embrace, "So, you only spent the night to make sure I woke up on time, huh?"

_Be the one I trust most…_

The raven haired teen lets out an exhausted chuckle, "That's the main reason, but I was horny too and don't act like you didn't want it."

"I always want it." He hugs his pale lover closer to his body, "Did you ever finish writing your valedictorian speech?"

Jushiro nods, "I finished it earlier today."

"Are you nervous?"

"Not really…it's just a speech. We've been through worse after all." He shivers a little from being sweaty and naked. This prompts Shunsui to pull the cover up over their bodies.

"Speaking of which, I dreamed about how we died last night." He kisses the back of his friend's pale neck as if making sure he is really there after losing him in another life.

Jushiro turns around in Shunsui's arms and buries his face in his friend's bare chest, "I did too."

_Don't stop inspiring me…_

The bearded teen lets out a saddened sigh, "I woke up and felt like I'd lost you in this life. It was so real and so horrible. That illness eventually took you away from me."

"And, you died of a broken heart."

When Shunsui feels Jushiro's wet tears against his chest, he squeezes the smaller teen closer to his body, "We must've done something right in that other life though." When the black haired teenager doesn't respond, Shunsui continues speaking, "We got to be friends for so long and live our lives together back then, but we were lucky enough to meet again and live this life together as well."

Jushiro smiles, "I don't think luck has anything to do with it, Shunsui."

"What do you mean, Ju?"

"I just mean that soul mates always find each other." His pale cheeks redden, but he continues his explanation, "It may sound corny, but I think you and I will always find each other because that's what soul mates do."

_Sometimes it's hard to keep on running…_

A smile spreads across Shunsui's features, "It doesn't sound corny." He lifts his black haired lover's face from his chest and gently kisses him on the lips, "I think it sounds beautiful."

Jushiro smiles again, "I love you so much."

"I love you so much more."

With the smile still on his face, Jushiro snuggles back down against his friend's warm body and the two of them fall asleep.

_We work so much to keep it going…_

The next day, the two of them manage to get dressed and get to graduation on time. Jushiro's speech as well as all other aspects of the graduation go just as planned. Afterward, there seems to be a never ending photo shoot with several of Shunsui's relatives commenting that they'd never seen him without any pink on before. Jushiro had to smile because he was the only one who knew that Shunsui's underwear was pink.

_Don't make me want to give up…_

When the photo shoot ended, the two ex-shinigami go their separate ways to spend the rest of the evening with their families, but they know that summer break and college will find them inseparable…not to mention the rest of their lives…every single one of them.

_Running, Running_

_As fast as we can_

_Do you think we'll make it?_

_(Do you think we'll make it?)_

_We're running_

_Keep holding my hand_

_It's so we don't get separated._

The End.

Started: 5/17/2012

Finished: 5/22/2012

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Done! Wooohooo! Tell me what you think! Also, I know I have a major problem with keeping the same tense in a story…sorry, I try really hard to fix it every time, but I'm only human and we all make mistakes.

Another thing, Reader 152...you really need to set up an account! I like to thank all the people who review or favorite my stories in private messages, but I can't talk to you! I'm so glad you enjoy my Shun/Uki fics and I hope you like this one as much as the others.

Thanks to everyone else who have supported my writing and as always Love Ya!

P.S. Does my taste in music show my age? I grew up in the 90's what can I say...made in the 80's.


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